Personnel-disabling grenade



Jan. 2, 1968 A. LITMAN PERSONNEL-DISABLING GRENADE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed May 10, 1966 INVENTOR. ALAN L. L/TMA/V ATTORNEYS Jan. 2, 1968 A.L. LITMAN PERSONNEL-DISABLING GRENADE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 10,1966 l l l ikgs AWs \ INVENTOR.

ALA/V L. L/TMA/V ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent 3,361,065 PERSONNEL-DISABLING GRENADE Alan L.Litman, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor, by direct and mesne assignments, toSmith & Wesson, Inc., Springfield, Mass.

Filed May 10, 1966, Ser. No. 549,008 9 Claims. (Cl. 102-65) ABSTRACT OFTHE DISCLOSURE The present invention provides an improved grenade whichhas the following main features:

(a) The propelling gas is generated in a closed vessel within thegrenade body, and this gas is first discharged against the wall of thegrenade opposite the discharge opening. This construction has thefollowing advantages:

(i) It prevents direct contact of the burning powder with the disablingmedia.

(ii) It causes a pre-cooling of the propelling gas before it contactsthe main body of the disabling media.

(iii) It causes the propelling gas to sweep the interior wall of thegrenade body, effecting smooth acceleration and de-agglomeration of thetear-gas powder.

(b) The body of the grenade is preferably formed of a high-strengthplastic that is inert to the disabling media, but which will react withthe propelling gas. This feature has the following advantages:

(i) There is no degradation of the disabling media by reaction with thebody during storage.

(ii) The high-velocity propelling gas impinges on the plastic causingablation (endothermic breakdown) of the plastic. This breakdowndecomposes the plastic into both solid and gaseous materials, and thereaction serves to reduce the temperature of the propelling gas whileadding to the volume of that gas.

(iii) The plastic body excludes entry of moisture, which would degradethe disabling media.

(iv) The plastic body can be molded in the desired shape at minimumcost.

Background of the invention This invention provides an improved form ofpersonnel-disabling grenade useful in capturing barricaded criminals, incontrol of riots and for other similar law-enforcing and militarypurposes.

The use of hand grenades for the purpose of temporarily disablingpersons who are enemies of society has been known for a long time. Suchgrenades have been used to project different types of disabling media,particularly tear gas. Over the years many improvements in specificdetails of these grenades have been made.

The United States Patent No. 1,530,133 to Maxwell points out that forpeacetime use it is desirable for humanitarian reasons to avoid injuryor mutilation. That patent therefore describes a grenade with a body ofsuflicient strength that it will not rupture during use, thus avoidingflying fragments.

It has been customary in tear-gas grenades to provide within the grenadea charge of propelling material that will generate a volume of gassufiicient to discharge and disperse the tear-producing material. Thesuggestion has been made (see US. Patent 1,659,158 to Oglesby) that thetemperature of this propelling gas should be somewhat moderated beforeit contacts the tear-producing material in order to avoid any chemicalreaction or decomposition of the tear-producing material that mightreduce its effec tiveness.

Description of the invention In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is an elevation of a hand grenade incorporating the invention.

FIG. 2 is a central vertical section of the device of FIG. 1.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are views similar to FIG. 2 but illustratingmodifications.

The invention will be described as a tear-gas grenade, although it canbe used to disperse other personnel-disabling materials.

Referring to the drawings more particularly, the main body 10 issubstantially barrel-shaped. It is preferably formed from a strongplastic that will not burst when the grenade is used. A suitablematerial for body 10 has been found to be a polyacetal copolymer havinga tensile strength of 8 to 10,000 pounds per square inch. This materialwill not react chemically with the tear-gas material during storage, andwill not permit permeation of tear-gas material or moisture, but willreact with the hot propelling gas in a manner that will be subsequentlydescribed.

The grenade is illustrated in a normal upright position, and the partillustrated at the top of FIGS. 1 and 2 will be referred to as the upperend.

This wall 11 of the upper end of body 10 is of greater thickness thanthe remainder of the body, and this end is formed with a screw-threadedopening 12 to receive a grenade fuse 13. The fuse 13 is of aconstruction wellknown in the grenade art, and is suitable for ignitingthe gas-generating powder shortly to be described. One example of such afuse is disclosed in United States Patent No. 1,894,203 to Spring.

The lower end of body 10 is formed with a discharge opening 14 which isof a large diameter relative to the over-all diameter of the body 10. Ametal or plastic end cap 15 is crimped over a rim 16 of the body and issealed with a suitable sealant, preferably, a polysiloxane.

After the parts of the grenade have been assembled (some of which willbe described later) and before the cap 15 is applied, the body 10 ischarged with tear-gasproducing material indicated at 17. This materialis preferably orthochlorbenzalmalononitrile (conventionally des ignatedby the letters CS) or 2-chloroacetophenone (conventionally designated bythe letters CN) reduced to a fine dust having a particle size average 15microns. Powders reduced to this degree of fineness are usually calledmicronized.

In connection with tear gas it must be understood that one dictionarymeaning of the word gas is:

a mist-like suspension of extremely fine dust particles in air, used toasphyxiate, or stupefy, or cause lachrymation.

In the past tear-gas bombs have been primarily of the following twotypes:

Type I. Slow-burning type In this type of bomb the tear-gas material hasbeen placed in association with a fuel material. Upon ignition, theburning fuel vaporizes the tear-gas material, and this vapor condenseson the small particles of smoke produced by the fuel.

Because of its slow-burning characteristics this type of bomb can bedangerous to the thrower, because it can often be picked up and thrownback.

T ype II. Bombs using pre-micronized powder In this type of bomb thetear-gas powder has been premicronized prior to loading it into thebomb. With this type of bomb it is merely necessary to quickly dischargethe powder from the casing, thus avoiding the disadvantages of theslow-burning type.

The present invention provides an improved bomb using pre-micronizedpowder.

The important improvement of the present invention lies in the specialprovisions made for the highly efficient and effective dispersion of thepre-rnicronized tear-gasproducing dust from the grenade. This is done inthe following manner.

The gas-generating material, indicated at 18, is spaced within anelongated metal tube 19, which is closed except for its upper open end20. The upper end 20 of the tube is aligned with, but spaced slightlybelow the lower end of the fuse 13. A preferred gas-generating materialis a double-base smokeless powder having hollow grains. Since thispowder produces the propelling gas, it can be called the propellingpowder.

The main body of tube 19 is displaced away from the central axis of thegrenade, and the lower end of tube 19 rests on the bottom of bodyadjacent to discharge opening 14. The tube w is therefore in such aposition that it will not interfere with the free discharge of thetear-gas-producing dust through the discharge opening 14.

The lower end of tube 19 is held in its proper out-ofthe-way position bya slotted positioning member 21 which is carried by the closure cap 15,and which has fingers engaging opposite sides of the tube 18.

The lower end 22 of the fuse 13 is a cylindrical nipple and has an outerdiameter corresponding with the outer diameter of the tube 18.

As previously stated, the upper end 19 of tube 18 is spaced a slightdistance from the lower end 21 of the fuse. The gap between these twoparts is sealed by a union sleeve 23, which is formed from a materialwhich can be readily expanded by gas pressure, such as an elastomer.

Operation In using the grenade, the safety pin 24 is removed in theusual manner, and the handle 25 is released. Approximately 2 secondsthereafter the fuse ignites the propelling powder 18 in tube 19.

The rapidly expanding hot gases cause the upper end of the sleeve 23 toexpand outwardly into a cone-shaped collar, as indicated by the dottedlines at 23a. This coneshaped collar directs the gases to take thecourse indicated by the arrows.

In following this course the gases first impinge against the upper endof the housing, where they are cooled, partly by their ablation(chemical reaction) with the plastic of the body. Since the upper wall11 of the body is thick, it remains relatively cool, thus helping tocool the gas.

As stated previously, the body is formed of a material that reactsendothermically with the hot propelling gas. This reaction serves toreduce the temperature of the propelling gas while adding to the volumeof that gas. The reduction of the temperature of the propelling gas isimportant because at higher temperatures there is a degradation, andhence a loss, of some of the teargasproducing dust.

In addition, as a result of the direction of the gas being reversed 180,the velocity of the gas is reduced, and the resulting turbulencepromotes aerosolization of the teargas powder.

This change of direction of the gas causes it to sweep along the innerwall of the body, passing partly around the mass of powder. This actionappears to accelerate the powder more gradaully than would be the caseif the gas impinged directly on top of the mass of powder.

When the pressure within the grenade rises to approximately 100 to 150pounds per square inch, the cap pops off, allowing sudden release of thegear-gas powder. The fact that the tube 19 which holds thegas-generating compound is tilted to one side permits unimpeded flow ofthe dust from the relatively large discharge opening 14.

Because of the cooling and slowing down of the propelling gas, there isa substantial reduction in the percentage of dust particles that aretie-activated (have their tear-producing properties destroyed). Byactual test it has been found that not over 10% of the dust particlesare tie-activated, whereas without the cooling and direction-changingflow, approximately 50% of the dust particles are rendered ineffective.

In addition, the reversing gas flow of the present invention stirs upthe body of tear-gas powder, and breaks up any clumps that may haveformed during the storage of the grenade.

It should be noted that the propelling gas is generated within the tube19 which opens toward the closed end 11 of the grenade. The result ofthat construction is that the burning powder which generates thepropelling gas never comes into direct contact with thetear-gas-producing material. This feature is important because suchcontact would cause instant degradation of some of the teargas-producingmaterial.

The tube 19 is preferably an elongated tube of the general shape of anordinary test tube. With such a tube only a small area of powder isexposed at the top, so that the powder burns progressively and generatesgas in a relatively slow reaction, thus producing a relativelyslowmoving body of gas.

The over-all result is that a very high proportion of the tear-gaspowder is dispersed into an aerosolized gas. Tests have shown thatapproximately 55% of the powder is aerosolized, which is a much higherpercentage than is obtained with any prior-art grenades.

Another advantage of the new grenade is that since the body remainsintact, and relatively cool, it may be held in the hand. The aerosolizedtear gas issues in the form of an elongated cone, which may be aimed inany desired direction.

The presence of the slotted positioning member 21 causes the end cap 15to twist to the left as it is blown from the body. The resultanttumbling through the air reduces its velocity and the chance of causinginjury.

Possible variations Several possible variations are shown in FIG. 3. Theunion sleeve 23 is replaced by a union member 23b molded from rubber orother similar material. The member 23b has a lower portion collar 26which has a snug fit over the upper end of the tube 19, and an upperrelatively thin collar portion 27 which snugly engages the nipple of thefuse.

Between the collar portions 26 and 27, the union member 23b carries acone-shaped rim 28, the upper end of lvjvhch closely approaches the endwall 11 of the grenade When the grenade is fired, the expanding gasformed in the upper end of tube 19 first bends outwardly the uppercollar 27 to the position shown in dotted lines. The action causes thegas to travel upwardly and impinge on the upper wall 11 of the grenadebody.

Thereafter, the expanding volume of gas deforms outwardly thecone-shaped rim 28 to the dotted line position shown. During this actionthe gas is caused to wipe along the wall of the casing and to change itsdirection with the advantages previously described.

Another possible variant is the provision of the hollow, cup-shapedChamber 29 at the discharge end of the grenade body. Within this chamberis placed a charge 30 of a desiccant, preferably a silicon derivativewhich serves also as a sealing compound.

One wall of the chamber 29 carries a spring clip 31 which holds the tube19 in its oifset position.

The closure cap 32, formed of low density polyethylene may be lined witha disc 33 of an impermeable material such as aluminum foil.

A tab 34 punched from a wall of chamber 29 permits passage of moistureto the desiccant, and also causes the blast of escaping gas to blow thecap 32 off with a twisting motion.

FIG. 4 illustrates a modified form of gas generator tube. In this casethe tube 19a is mounted directly on the nippel of the fuse and extendson the central axis of the grenade body to a point near the thedischarge opening 14.

The upper end of the gas tube 19a extends over the nipple of the fuseand is crimped or brazed to it.

Just below the nipple the gas tube is formed with four gas ports 35located 90 apart. A cone-shaped boot 36 fits snugly over the gas tubebelow the ports 35 and has an outer rim 37 which engages the upper Wall11 of the grenade body.

In this case the boot 36 directs the gas upwardly against the end Wall11 and bends outwardly to the dotted position, directing the gases inthe manner previously explained in connection with FIG. 3.

While the grenade has been described as a hand grenade, it should beunderstood that it may be adapted for projection by rifle, mortar, orany preferred device.

The body may be formed of metal, or any desirable material, althoughplastic is preferred for the reasons given herein.

Although the new grenade has been described in connection with its usefor projecting tear gas, is should be understood that it may be used toproject any suitable personnel-disabling gas or aerosol suspension, suchas some fire-extinguishing media.

According to the provisions of the patent statutes, I have explained theprinciple of my invention and have illustrated and described what I nowconsider to represent its best embodiment. However, I desire to have itunderstood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the inventionmay be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated anddescribed.

I claim:

1. In a personnel-disabling grenade of the type having a hollow bodyfilled with a disabling medium, a charge of gas-forming material whichwhen ignited produces a volume of gas which propels the disabling mediumfrom the grenade, and is used for igniting the gas-forming material; theimprovements comprising:

(a) the hollow body carrying a fuse (13) at one end and being providedwith a discharge opening (14) at the opposite end;

(b) a receptacle (19) within the body (10) and which carries thegas-generating material, the receptacle having an open end adjacent tothe fuse (13) Whereby the firing of the fuse ignites the gas-generatingmaterial in the receptacle (19);

(c) the receptacle (19) having one or more gas emission ports arrangedto discharge the propelling gas against the fuse end (11) of the grenadebody (10);

(d) the receptacle (19) being closed except for the open end adjacentthe fuse, and for the emission ports.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the receptacle (19) is anelongated tube having its closed end adjacent to the discharge opening(14) of the grenade.

3. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the fuse has a dependingnipple, and

(a) the receptacle (19) is an elongated tube having its open end alignedwith the nipple;

(b) the gas emission ports of the receptacle (19) are located near thefuse nipple;

(c) and a directional collar (23, 28, 36) is mounted on the elongatedtube (19) and which directs the gas emerging from the emission ports tocause it to impinge on the upper end (11) of the body (10).

4. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the hollow body is formedfrom a moldable plastic that is inert to the disabling medium, but whichreacts endothermically with the hot propelling gas.

5. A device .as claimed in claim 1, wherein a desiccant chamber (29) isheld within the discharge opening (14) by a closure cap (32).

6. In a personnel-disabling grenade of the type having a hollow bodyfilled with a micronized tear-gas-forming powder, a charge of propellingpowder adapted on ignition to form a propelling gas, and a fuse forigniting the propelling powder; the improvements comprising:

(a) the hollow body (10) being barrel-shaped and having the end (11)which carries the fuse formed with a thicker wall than the remainder ofthe body and being provided with a discharge opening (14) at theopposite end;

(b) an elongated gas tube (19) within the body (10) and which is filledwith propelling powder,

(1) the gas tube having an open end adjacent to the fuse, whereby thefiring of the fuse ignites the propelling powder,

(2) the lower end of the gas tube being adjacent to, but spaced from,the discharge opening (14);

(c) the gas tube having one or more gas emission ports arranged todischarge the propelling gas against the fuse end (11) of the hollowbody (10), whereby the propelling gas is caused to change direction inpropelling the tear-gas powder from the grenade.

7. A device as claimed in claim 6, wherein the hollow body (10) isformed from a moldable plastic that is inert to the disabling medium,but which reacts endothermically with the hot propelling gas.

8. A device as claimed in claim 6, wherein the gas tube (19) carries adirectional collar (23, 28, 36) which directs the propelling gas issuingfrom the emission ports to cause it to impinge on the end (11) of thebody (10).

9. A device as claimed in claim 6, wherein a desiccant chamber (29) isheld within the discharge opening (14) by a closure cap (32).

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,539,609 5/1925 Taylor 102-641,878,489 9/1932 Goss 102-65 1,878,491 9/1932 Goss 102-65 2,294,415 9/1942 McBride 102-65 2,925,942 2/1960 Schmidt et al. 222-389 X 2,959,12711/1960 Weinert 102-65 FOREIGN PATENTS 705,643 3/1965 Canada. 629,069 7/1927 France.

BENJAMIN A. BORCHELT, Primary Examiner. W. KUJAWA, Assistant Examiner.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No.3,361,065 January 2, 1968 Alan L. Litman It is hereby certified thaterror appears in the above numbered patent requiring correction and thatthe said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

Column 5, line 40, for "is used" read a fuse Signed and sealed this 11thday of February 1969.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD J. BRENNER Edward M. Fletcher, I r.

Commissioner of Patents Attesting Officer

